Published: April 2021
Forever Chemicals
AM Best TV & Audio: Stronger Hurricanes May Put More Inland Areas at Risk in the Future: Also, insurance industry professionals discuss pet prescription coverage and new regulations on the use of commercial drones.
AM Best Webinars: The Impact of COVID on Cyberrisk and the Importance of Recorded Statements in Insurance Claims: Industry experts also discuss the business lessons learned from COVID and the importance of data quality, optimal processes and accurate data analysis for insurers across all lines of business.
App Store: Best’s Credit Ratings Mobile App Puts Information at Agents’ Fingertips: Adriana Franco details the concept behind developing the app and what to expect from the application and its features over time.
At Large: 2020 Was a Time Machine That Flung Insurance Into the Future: Rather than introduce truly unique disruptions to the insurance industry, 2020 forced insurers to speed up existing plans to modernize their businesses.
Book Store: Attorney: Insurance Policy Exclusions Still Fodder for New York Courts: Author Evan Krinick takes a look at 25 years of insurance cases in new book.
Corporate Changes: Acquisitions, State Actions and Name Changes: Secura Insurance is among the life/health and property/casualty insurers in the United States that have had a recent corporate change.
Emerging Risks: D&O Writers Brace for Wave of Costly Diversity Lawsuits: Shareholder derivative lawsuits that target boards’ failures to act on diversity goals could steam roll directors and officers lines of business.
Emerging Risks: Deepfakes Are No Laughing Matter: Deepfakes are a relatively new phenomenon and companies are struggling to understand what they are and how to assess their true risk and exposure.
Emerging Risks: Insurers Face Evolving Cyberrisk From Costly Hacks, Deepfake Attacks and Sophisticated Ransomware: Because cyberattacks can affect a range of coverages including business interruption and reputational risk, insurers are forced to constantly update their coverage tactics.
Emerging Risks: On High Alert: Rising Risks of PFAS Claims and Litigation Capture New Attention: Some industry experts are seeing parallels between PFAS risk and asbestos litigation that for years hit insurers hard. Insurers are now reacting by creating stand-alone products and adding PFAS-related policy exclusions for losses stemming from drinking water contamination, environmental remediation, and products liability and bodily injury claims related to the “forever chemicals.”
Emerging Risks: Praesidium CEO: Risk Management Is Key to Preventing Child Abuse Claims: As claims grow due to changes in statute of limitations laws, insurers are raising underwriting standards and providing their insureds assessment resources to meet those requirements.
Executive Changes: UnitedHealth Group Names Successor to Retiring CEO: Also, FM Global creates new position of head of power generation, Ohio has a new insurance commissioner and Lloyd’s fills newly created role of chief of markets.
From the Editor's Desk: Beyond the Pandemic, a Gathering Wave of Risks Threatens Insurers With Outsized Losses: This issue includes a look at lawsuits over chemicals that have contaminated drinking water and examines growing concerns about cyberrisks. Other coverage includes a listing of the largest insurers in Latin America.
Insurance Marketing: Power Shot: Customer Brand Loyalty and Sports Partnerships Are in Full Effect in Insurance: COVID-19 hasn’t stopped many insurance brands from resonating with consumers and meeting customer expectations, and Vitality is partnering with reigning Olympic gold medal team England & Great Britain Women’s Hockey.
Latin America: AM Best: Economic Uncertainty, Record Low Interest Rates Impact Brazil’s Reinsurance Market: The AM Best outlook for the reinsurance market of the South American country remains at negative.
Life Insurance: Unclaimed Life Insurance: Insurers Grapple With a Problem That Resists Elimination: The life insurance industry is still addressing the issue of unclaimed benefits nearly a decade after the situation first made headlines across the U.S. While the use of new technologies and diligence has abated the issue, some instances still remain.
Reinsurance: Bermuda’s Vantage and Conduit Re Enter Market With Clean Slates and Veteran Staffs: Vantage and Conduit bet a combination of experience, technology and grit will allow them to sidestep the low interest rate environment that has crimped the entire industry.
Risk Adviser: Plan Now for the Inevitable Soft Market: Successful insurers maintain underwriting discipline that anticipates a rate downturn.
Technology: Innovation Through Integration: Legislation Should Help Open Access to Patient Data: Eight-year-old standard finds fresh life thanks to new legislation meant to ease access to patient data across the health care ecosystem.
The Last Word: Name Game: Some Insurers Are Shedding Their Old Monikers for New Company Names: Every corporate name change has a unique story behind its inspiration, and several insurers recently have found creative ways to rebrand their company names.
Trending: Best's Research: Market Segment Report: Premium Volume May Be Down but Profits Could Expand for Auto Insurers: AM Best also comments on the potential for Texas insurers to see record catastrophe losses from winter storm Uri and accelerated ESG investments.
What AM Best Says: AM Best: China Outlook Shaped by Premiums, Profitability and Regulation: Auto insurance comprises the majority of China’s nonlife market.